After the 2010 presidential election, a number of criminal cases were brought against her. On 11 October 2011 she was convicted of embezzlement and abuse of power, and sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay the state $188 million. The prosecution and conviction were viewed as politically biased by many governments – most prominently the European Union, who repeatedly called for the release of Tymoshenko as the primary condition for signing the EU Association Agreement, the US, and international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.[29] She was released on 22 February 2014, in the concluding days of the Euromaidan revolution, following a revision of the Ukrainian criminal code that effectively decriminalized the actions for which she was imprisoned. The decision was supported by 322 votes.[30][31] She was officially rehabilitated on 28 February 2014.[31][32][33][34] Just after Euromaidan revolution, the Ukrainian Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights closed the case and found that "no crime was committed".[35][36][37]

Tymoshenko strives for Ukraine's integration into the European Union and strongly opposes the membership of Ukraine in the Eurasian Customs Union. Yulia Tymoshenko supports NATO membership for Ukraine.[39]

Tymoshenko was born Yulia Hrihyan[9][40][41] 27 November 1960, in Dnipropetrovsk, Soviet Ukraine, Soviet Union.[42] Her mother, Lyudmila Telehina (née Nelepova), was born on 11 August 1937, also in Dnipropetrovsk.[43] Yulia's father, Volodymyr Hrihyan, who according to his Soviet passport was Latvian, was born on 3 December 1937, also in Dnipropetrovsk. He abandoned his wife and young daughter when Yulia was between one and three years old; Yulia used her mother's surname.[43][44]

After graduating from the Dnipropetrovsk State University in 1984, Tymoshenko worked as an engineer-economist in the "Dnipro Machine-Building Plant" (which produced missiles) in Dnipropetrovsk until 1988.[50]

In 1988, as part of the perestroika initiatives, Yulia and Oleksandr Tymoshenko borrowed 5000 Soviet rubles and opened a video-rental cooperative, perhaps with the help of Oleksander's father, Gennadi Tymoshenko, who presided over a regional film-distribution network in the provincial council.[51]

In 1991 Tymoshenko established (jointly with her husband Oleksandr, Gennadi Tymoshenko, and Olexandr Gravets)[51] "The Ukrainian Petrol Corporation", a company that supplied the agriculture industry of Dnipropetrovsk with fuel from 1991 to 1995.[50] Tymoshenko worked as a general director. In 1995 this company was reorganized into United Energy Systems of Ukraine.[53] Tymoshenko served as the president of United Energy Systems of Ukraine, a privately owned middleman company that became the main importer of Russian natural gas to Ukraine, from 1995 to 1 January 1997.[42][54][55] During that time she was nicknamed[by whom?] the "gas princess".[56][57] She was also accused of "having given Pavlo Lazarenko kickbacks in exchange for her company's stranglehold on the country's gas supplies",[58] although Judge Martin Jenkins of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, on 7 May 2004, dismissed the allegations of money laundering and conspiracy regarding UESU, Somoli Ent. et al. (companies affiliated with Yulia Tymoshenko) in connection with Lazarenko's activities.[59] During this period, Tymoshenko was involved in business relations (either co-operative or hostile) with many important figures of Ukraine.[60][61][62] Tymoshenko also had to deal with the management of the Russian corporation, Gazprom.[63] Yulia Tymoshenko claims that, under her management, UESU successfully solved significant economic problems: in 1995–1997, Ukraine’s multi-billion debt for Russian natural gas was paid; Ukraine resumed international cooperation in machine building, the pipe industry and construction; and Ukraine's export of goods to Russia doubled.[64] In the period 1995–1997 Tymoshenko was considered one of the richest business people in Ukraine.[58] When Tymoshenko made her initial foray into national politics, her company became an instrument of political pressure on her and on her family. UESU top management faced prosecution.[65] Since 1998 Tymoshenko has been a prominent politician in Ukraine. She was removed[by whom?] from the list of "100 richest Ukrainians" in 2006.[66][67]

Former Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was in the opposition to President Leonid Kuchma. In a letter to the editor of the British newspaper "Financial Times", Tymoshenko claims that the President of Ukraine consciously building a totalitarian system in the country.[71]

I believe that Mr Kuchma's regime may go so far as to eliminate me physically, not just politically, but I have made my choice and will continue to fight him by democratic methods. President Kuchma says I have committed a crime. My only "crime" has been to fight the corruption, shadow economy and totalitarianism that have been created by this president of Ukraine. Yulia Tymoshenko Prisoner of Conscience and Former Deputy Prime Minister, Ukraine.

Tymoshenko was re-elected in 1998, winning a constituency in the Kirovohrad Oblast, and was also number six on the party list of Hromada.[68][73][74] She became an influential person in the parliament,[75] and was appointed the Chair of the Budget Committee of the Verkhovna Rada.[50][76][77][78] After Hromada's party leader Pavlo Lazarenko fled to the United States in February 1999 to avoid investigations for embezzlement,[77] various faction members left Hromada to join other parliamentary factions,[78][79] among them Tymoshenko, who set up the All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" faction in March 1999 in protest against the methods of Lazarenko.[77][80] "Fatherland" was officially registered as a political party in September 1999,[80] and began to attract the voters who had voted for Yevhen Marchuk in the October 1999 presidential election.[79] In 2000, "Fatherland" went in opposition to President Kuchma.[79]

From late December 1999 to January 2001, Tymoshenko was the Deputy Prime Minister for the fuel and energy sector in the cabinet of Viktor Yushchenko.[81] She officially left parliament on 2 March 2000.[74] Under her guidance, Ukraine's revenue collections from the electricity industry grew by several thousand percent. She scrapped the practice of barter in the electricity market, requiring industrial customers to pay for their electricity in cash.[82] She also terminated exemptions for many organizations[83] which excluded them from having their power disconnected. Her reforms meant that the government had sufficient funds to pay civil servants and increase salaries.[84] In 2000, Tymoshenko's government provided an additional 18 billion Hryvna for social payments. Half of this amount was collected due to withdrawal of funds from shadow schemes, the ban on barter payments and the introduction of competition rules to the energy market.[85]

On 13 February 2001, Tymoshenko was arrested and charged with forging customs documents and smuggling gas in 1997 (while president of United Energy Systems of Ukraine).[50][88][91] Her political supporters organized numerous protest rallies near the Lukyanivska Prison where she was held in custody.[92] In March 2001, Pechersk District Court (Kiev) found the charges groundless and cancelled the arrest sanction. According to Tymoshenko, the charges were fabricated by Kuchma's regime at the behest of oligarchs threatened by her efforts to eradicate corruption and institute market-based reforms. On 9 April 2003, the Kiev Court of Appeal issued a ruling that invalidated and cancelled proceedings on the criminal cases against Yulia and Oleksandr Tymoshenko. Despite Tymoshenko being cleared of the charges, Moscow maintained an arrest warrant for her should she enter Russia. In 2005, all charges were declared groundless and lifted.[93][94]

The criminal case was closed in Ukraine in January 2005 due to lack of evidence, and in Russia in December 2005 by reason of lapse of time.[95] On 18 November 2005 the Supreme Court of Ukraine issued a ruling which invalidated all criminal cases against Yulia Tymoshenko and her family.[96]Despite this the case was reopened in Ukraine on 24 October 2011,[97] after Yanukovych came to power.

Tymoshenko's husband, Oleksandr, spent two years (2002–2004) in hiding in order to avoid incarceration on charges the couple said were unfounded and politically motivated by the former Kuchma administration.[98][99][100]

Once the charges were dropped, Tymoshenko reassumed her place among the leaders of the grassroots campaign against President Kuchma for his alleged role in the murder of the journalist Georgiy Gongadze. In this campaign, Tymoshenko first became known as a passionate, revolutionist leader, an example of this being a TV broadcast of her smashing prison windows during one of the rallies. At the time Tymoshenko wanted to organise a national referendum to impeach President Kuchma.[101]

Our government was doing almost an underground work under the rigorous pressure of president Kuchma and criminal-oligarchic groups. All anti-shadow and anti-corruption initiatives of the Cabinet of Ministers were being blocked, while the Government was being an object of blackmailing and different provocations. People were arrested only because their relatives were working for the Cabinet of Ministers and were carrying out real reforms that were murderous for the corrupted system of power.

On 11 August 2001, civilian and military prosecutors in Russia opened a new criminal case against Tymoshenko accusing her of bribery.[103] On 27 December 2005, Russian prosecutors dropped these charges. Russian prosecutors had suspended an arrest warrant when she was appointed prime minister, but reinstated it after she was fired in September 2005. The prosecutors suspended it again when she came to Moscow for questioning[104] on 25 September 2005.[105] Tymoshenko didn't travel to Russia during her first seven months as Prime Minister (the first Tymoshenko Government).[105]

In January 2002 Tymoshenko was involved in a mysterious car accident that she survived with minor injuries – an episode some believe to have been a government assassination attempt.[106] Her Mercedes, part of a two-vehicle convoy, collided with a Lada in Kiev. The driver of the other car suffered head injuries and police said initial investigations suggested that Tymoshenko's chauffeur had been at fault.[107]

In March 2004, Yulia Tymoshenko announced that leaders of "Our Ukraine", BYuT and Socialist Party of Ukraine were working on a coalition agreement concerning joint participation in the presidential campaign. Tymoshenko decided not to run for president and give way to Viktor Yushchenko. On 2 July 2004, Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc established the Force of the people, a coalition which aimed to stop "the destructive process that has, as a result of the incumbent authorities, become a characteristic for Ukraine." The pact included a promise by Viktor Yushchenko to nominate Tymoshenko as Prime Minister if Yushchenko should win the October 2004 presidential election. Tymoshenko was actively campaigning for Yushchenko, touring and taking part in rallies all over Ukraine. After Viktor Yushchenko had dropped out of the campaign due to his mysterious poisoning, Tymoshenko continued campaigning on his behalf.[110]

After the initial vote on 31 October, two candidates – Viktor Yanukovych and Viktor Yushchenko – proceeded to a runoff. As Tymoshenko earlier envisaged, Yushchenko received endorsement from former competitors who didn't make it to the runoff, such as Oleksandr Moroz (Socialist Party), Anatoliy Kinakh (Party of Industrials and Entrepreneurs), former Kyiv city mayor Oleksanrd Omelchenko and others.

On 6 November 2004, Tymoshenko asked people to spread the orange symbols (orange was the color of Yushchenko's campaign). "Grab a piece of the cheapest orange cloth, make ribbons and put them everywhere" she said. "Don't wait until the campaign managers give those to you".

When allegations of fraud began to spread, the "orange team" decided to conduct a parallel vote tabulation during 21 November 2004 runoff and announce the results immediately to people on Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in Kyiv. Tymoshenko called Kyiv residents to gather on the square and asked people from other cities and towns to come and stand for their choice. "Bring warm clothes, lard and bread, garlic and onions and come to Kyiv" she said. On 22 November 2004 massive protests broke out in cities across Ukraine: The largest, in Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti, attracted an estimated 500,000 participants.[111] These protests became known as the Orange Revolution. On 23 November 2004 Tymoshenko led the participants of the protest to the President's Administration. On Bankova Street, special riot police prevented the procession from going any further, so people lifted Tymoshenko up and she walked on the police's shields to the Administration building.

On 3 December 2004 the Supreme Court of Ukraine invalidated the results of the runoff and scheduled the re-run for 26 December 2004. After the cancellation of Viktor Yanukovych's official victory and the second round of the election, Viktor Yushchenko was elected president with 51.99% of votes (Yanukovych received 44.2% support).[112]

During the protests, Tymoshenko's speeches on the Maidan kept the momentum of the street protests going.[113] Her popularity grew significantly to the point where the media began to refer to her as the Ukrainian or Slavic "Joan of Arc"[114][115] as well as "Queen of the Orange revolution"[116] in addition to her pre existing sobriquet from the 1990s decade as the "Gas Princess". Additional nicknames included "Goddess of the Revolution" and the "Princess Leia of Ukrainian politics".[115]

On 24 January 2005, Tymoshenko was appointed acting Prime Minister of Ukraine under Yushchenko's presidency. On 4 February Tymoshenko's premiership appointment was ratified by the parliament with an overwhelming majority of 373 votes (226 were required for approval).[52][117] The Tymoshenko cabinet did not have any other members of Tymoshenko's party besides Tymoshenko herself and Oleksandr Turchynov, who was appointed the chief of Security Service of Ukraine.[118][119] The ministers who were working with her took her side in the later confrontation with Viktor Yushchenko.[120]

On 28 July, Forbes named Tymoshenko the third most powerful woman in the world, behind only Condoleezza Rice and Wu Yi.[38] However, in the magazine's list published on 1 September 2006, Tymoshenko's name was not among the top 100.[121]

Several months into her government[nb 1], internal conflicts within the post‐Revolution coalition began to damage Tymoshenko's administration.[122][123][124] On 24 August 2005, Viktor Yushchenko gave an Independence Day speech during which he called Tymoshenko's government "the best".[125]

Yet on 8 September, after the resignation of several senior officials, including the Head of the Security and Defense CouncilPetro Poroshenko[126] and Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko,[127] Yulia Tymoshenko's government was dismissed by President Viktor Yushchenko[127][128] during a live television address to the nation.[129] Yushchenko went on to criticize her work as head of the Cabinet, suggesting it had led to an economic slowdown and political conflicts within the ruling coalition.[130] He said that Tymoshenko was serving interests of some businesses, and the government decision to re-privatize the Nikopol Ferroalloy Plant (previously owned by Leonid Kuchma's son in law Viktor Pinchuk) "was the last drop" that made him dismiss the government.[131] On 13 September 2005 Yushchenko accused Tymoshenko of betrayal of "Orange Revolution" ideas. In his interview for the Associated Press, he said that during the time of her presidency at UESU, Tymoshenko accumulated an 8 million Hryvna debt, and that she had used her authority as prime minister to write off that debt. Tymoshenko has repeatedly stated that the mentioned amount was not a debt, but fines imposed by the Tax Inspection in 1997–1998, and that all the cases regarding UESU had been closed before she became prime minister.[132]

Tymoshenko blamed Yushchenko's closest circle for scheming against her and undermining the activities of her Cabinet. She also criticised Yushchenko, telling the BBC that he had "practically ruined our unity, our future, the future of the country", without rooting out corruption as he pledged to do and that the president's action was absolutely illogical.[133]

At the time, Tymoshenko saw a rapid growth of approval ratings, while president Yushchenko's approval ratings went down.[134] This tendency was later proved by the results of parliamentary elections in 2006, when for the first time ever BYuT outran "Our Ukraine" party, winning 129 seats vs. 81, respectively. During the previous parliamentary elections of 2002, BYuT had only 22 members of parliament, while "Our Ukraine" had 112.[135]

The work of Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister in 2005 was complicated due to internal conflicts in the "orange" team.[136] According to Tymoshenko, President Yushchenko and Petro Poroshenko were trying to turn the National Security and Defense Council into the "second Cabinet of Ministers".[136]

Soon after Tymoshenko's discharge in September 2005, the General Prosecutor Office of the Russian Federation dismissed all charges against her. On 18 November 2005 the Supreme Court of Ukraine issued a ruling which invalidated all criminal cases against Yulia Tymoshenko and her family.[137]

After her dismissal, Tymoshenko started to tour the country in a bid to win the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election as the leader of her Bloc.[nb 2] Tymoshenko soon announced that she wanted to return to the post of prime minister.[138] She managed to form a strong team that started a political fight on two fronts – with Viktor Yanukovych's and Viktor Yushchenko's camps.[139]

With the Bloc coming second in the election, and winning 129 seats, many speculated that she might form a coalition with Yushchenko's "Our Ukraine" party and the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) to prevent the Party of Regions from gaining power.[140] Tymoshenko again reiterated her stance in regard to becoming prime minister.[140] However, negotiations with "Our Ukraine" and SPU faced many difficulties as the various blocs fought over posts and engaged in counter-negotiations with other groups.[141]

On Wednesday 21 June 2006, the Ukrainian media reported that the parties had finally reached a coalition agreement, which appeared to have ended nearly three months of political uncertainty.[142][143]

Tymoshenko's nomination and confirmation as the new prime minister was expected to be straightforward. However, the political intrigue that took place broke the plan. BYuT partners "Our Ukraine" and Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) could not come to agreement regarding distribution of powers, thus creation of the Coalition of Democratic Forces was put on hold. Yushchenko and oligarchs from his narrow circle were trying to impede Tymoshenko from returning to the office of prime minister. Her nomination was preconditioned on the election of her long-time rival Petro Poroshenko from "Our Ukraine" to the position of speaker of the parliament. Oleksandr Moroz, the chairman of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, also expressed his interest in becoming speaker. Tymoshenko stated that she would vote for any speaker from the coalition.[144] Within a few days of the signing of the coalition agreement, it became clear that the coalition members mistrusted each other,[144] since they considered it a deviation from parliamentary procedures to hold a simultaneous vote on Poroshenko as the speaker and Tymoshenko as prime minister.[145][146]

The Party of Regions announced an ultimatum to the coalition demanding that parliamentary procedures be observed, asking that membership in parliamentary committees be allocated in proportion to seats held by each fraction, and demanding chairmanship in certain Parliamentary committees as well as Governorships in the administrative subdivisions won by the Party of Regions.[147][148] The Party of Regions complained that the coalition agreement deprived the Party of Regions and the communists of any representation in the executive and leadership in parliamentary committees, while in the local regional councils won by the Party of Regions the coalition parties were locked out of all committees as well.[147]

After lengthy negotiations, SPU suddenly pulled out of the Coalition and joined the alliance with the Party of Regions and the Communist Party of Ukraine. Oleksandr Moroz assured that the team of Viktor Yushchenko was conducting secret negotiations with the Party of Regions. According to that deal, Viktor Yanukovych was supposed to become the speaker, while Yuriy Yekhanurov kept the prime minister portfolio. These negotiations were conducted by Yekhanurov himself upon Yushchenko's request. Later, Yekhanurov admitted this fact in his interview with the "Ukrainska Pravda" website.[151]

Following the surprise nomination of Oleksandr Moroz from the Socialist Party of Ukraine as the Rada speaker and his subsequent election late on 6 July with the support of the Party of Regions, the "Orange coalition" collapsed. (Poroshenko had withdrawn his candidacy and had urged Moroz to do the same on 7 July).[144][152][153] After the creation of a large coalition of majority composed of the Party of Regions, the Socialist Party of Ukraine and the Communist Party of Ukraine, Yanukovych became prime minister, and the other two parties were left in the wilderness.[154][155] On 3 August 2006, Tymoshenko refused to sign the "Universal of National Unity" declaration initiated by president Yushchenko. The document, signed by Yushchenko, Yanukovych and leaders of Socialist and Communist parties, sealed Yanukovych's appointment as prime minister. Tymoshenko called it "the act of betrayal". In September 2006, Tymoshenko announced that her political force would be in opposition to the new government.[156] Our Ukraine stalled until 4 October 2006, when it too joined the opposition.[157] On 12 January 2007 a BYuT vote in the parliament overrode the president's veto of the "On the Cabinet of Ministers" law that was advantageous for the president. (In exchange, BYuT voted for the "On Imperative Mandate" and "On Opposition" laws). This vote was one of many steps undertaken by BYuT to ruin a fragile alliance between president Yushchenko and prime minister Yanukovych.[nb 3][158]

In March 2007, Yulia Tymoshenko traveled to the United States, where she held high-level meetings with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Stephen Hadley, the National Security Advisor under President George W. Bush.[nb 4] On 31 March 2007 Tymoshenko initiated a "100 thousand people Maidan" aimed to urge the president to call an early parliamentary election.[nb 5]

On 4 April 2007, president Yushchenko issued an edict "On early termination of duties of the Verkhovna Rada" as a reaction to violation of the Constitution by the Party of Regions, which had started dragging individual deputies into the "ruling coalition" (this being illegal, as coalitions should be formed by factions and not by individual deputies). In doing so, the Party of Regions was trying to achieve a constitutional majority of 300 votes which would enable prime minister Yanukovych to override the president's veto and control the legislative process. Party of Regions didn't obey this edict. In order to dismiss the Verkhovna Rada, Yulia Tymoshenko and her supporters in the parliament (168 deputies from BYuT and "Our Ukraine" factions) quit their parliamentary factions on 2 June 2007. That step invalidated the convocation of the Verkhovna Rada and cleared the path to an early election.

Yulia Timoshenko and Vladimir Putin (19 March 2005); in November 2009 Putin stated he found it comfortable to work with Tymoshenko and also praised her political choices.[161][162]

Following balloting in the 2007 parliamentary elections held on 30 September 2007, Orange Revolution parties had won majority of 229 votes of BYUT fraction (30,71% of the votes (156 seats) and the Our Ukraine/People's Self-defence faction.[163] On 3 October 2007, an almost final tally gave the alliance of Tymoshenko and President Yushchenko a slim lead over the rival party of Prime Minister Yanukovych, thanks in part to a vigorous BYuT campaign in the industrial east, a Party of Regions stronghold.[164] Although Yanukovych, whose party won the single biggest share of the vote, also claimed victory,[165] one of his coalition allies, the Socialist Party of Ukraine, failed to gain enough votes to retain seats in Parliament.[166]

On 15 October 2007, the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc agreed to form a majority coalition in the new parliament of the 6th convocation.[167] On 29 November, a coalition was signed between the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc, which was associated with President Yushchenko. Both parties are affiliated with the Orange Revolution. On 11 December 2007 the Coalition failed in its attempt to appoint Tymoshenko prime minister, falling one vote short (225 members of parliament supported her nomination). On 12 December 2007 the media reported on the possible attempted assassination of Yulia Tymoshenko. BYuT and Tymoshenko herself said it was an intimidation. On 18 December Tymoshenko was once again elected as Prime Minister (supported by 226 deputies, the minimal number needed for passage), heading the second Tymoshenko Government.[168]

Second Term as Prime Minister 2007–2010, and 2008 political crisis[edit]

On 11 July 2008, Party of Regions tried to vote no-confidence to Tymoshenko's government in the parliament, but could not collect enough votes.[169]

The coalition of Tymoshenko's Bloc (BYuT) and Yushchenko's Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc (OU-PSD) was put at risk due to deliberate misinterpretation of Tymoshenko's opinion on the ongoing 2008 South Ossetia War between Georgia and Russia. Yushchenko's office accused her of taking a softer position in order to gain support from Russia in the upcoming 2010 election. Andriy Kyslynskyi, the president's deputy chief of staff, went as far as to accuse her of 'high treason'.[170] According to Ukrainska Pravda and Newswire.ca Yulia Tymoshenko expressed her solidarity with Georgia on 13 and 14 August, and later preferred to stay neutral on the issue as according to Constitution President Yuschenko headed foreign policy issues.[171][172]

Tymoshenko on Russia-Georgia war

"We stand in solidarity with the democratically-elected leadership of Georgia. Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected

According to BYuT, Viktor Baloha (Chief of Staff of the Presidential Secretariat) criticized the premier at every turn, doing the dirty job for the President and accusing her of everything from not being religious enough to damaging the economy and plotting to kill him, and the accusation of 'betrayal' over Georgia was simply one of the latest and most pernicious attacks directed at the premier.[174][175][176][177][178]

President George W. Bush and Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko, Kiev, 1 April 2008

Yulia Tymoshenko and President of Poland Lech Kaczyński, 14 February 2008

After Tymoshenko's BYuT voted alongside the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Party of Regions to pass legislation that would facilitate the procedure of impeachment for future presidents[179] and limit the President's power while increasing the Prime Minister's powers, President Yushchenko's OU-PSD bloc pulled out of the coalition and Yushchenko promised to veto the legislation[180][181] and threatened to hold an election if a new coalition was not formed soon. This resulted in the 2008 Ukrainian political crisis, which culminated in Yushchenko calling an early parliamentary election on 8 October 2008.[182][183]

Tymoshenko was fiercely opposed to the snap election, stating "No politician would throw Ukraine into snap elections at this important time. But, if Yushchenko and Yanukovych – who are ideologists of snap elections – throw the country into snap elections, then they will bear responsibility for all the consequences of the global financial crisis on Ukraine".[184] Initially, the election was to be held on 7 December 2008,[185][186] but was later postponed to an unknown date.[187][188][189] Tymoshenko had no intention of resigning[190] until a new coalition was formed.[191]

On 5 February 2009 Tymoshenko's opponents in the parliament were trying to dismiss her government again, but again the vote failed.[201] The following day, president Yushchenko strongly criticized Tymoshenko and the economic policies of her government.[202] Tymoshenko accused him of spreading "a mix of untruths, panic and hysteria.".[202]

On 18 December 2008 for the first time Tymoshenko accused the National Bank of Ukraine in the conscious manipulation of the hryvnia, and President Yushchenko of colluding with the leadership of the NBU, which led to depreciation of the national currency to the level of 8 UAH per US dollar.[203]

A large part of Tymoshenko's second term as prime minister coincided in time with the global financial crisis of 2008, which required her government to respond to numerous challenges that could have led the country's economic collapse.[nb 6]

Tymoshenko's government launched an anti corruption campaign and identified it as one of its priorities. [nb 7]

The conditions leading to the 2009 gas dispute[205] were created in 2006, under the Viktor Yushchenko government, when Ukraine started buying Russian gas through an intermediary, Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo. (Fifty percent of RosUkrEnergo shares were owned by the Russian "Gazprom", with 45 percent and 5 percent owned by Ukrainian businessmen Dmytro Firtash and Ivan Fursin, respectively). Some sources indicate that notorious criminal boss Sergiy Shnaider (nick Semion Mogilevich, associated with Dmytro Firtash) also owned shares in the company.[206][207]

When Tymoshenko resumed her prime minister duties in 2007, she initiated direct relations between Ukraine and Russia with regard to gas trading. A 2 October 2008 Memorandum signed by Tymoshenko and Vladimir Putin stipulated liquidation of intermediaries in gas deals between the two countries and outlined detailed conditions for future gas contracts. The gas conflict of 2009 broke out because of two factors, the lack of a gas contract for 2009 and a $2.4 billion debt that Ukraine had yet to pay for gas received in 2008.[208] Prime Minister Tymoshenko stated that it was the "RosUkrEnergo" company that was responsible for the debt, rather than the state of Ukraine. She called for an end to corruption in the gas trade area and the establishment of direct contracts with the Russian Federation.[209]

"RosUkrEnergo", with the aid of its ties to Yushchenko's administration, managed to disrupt the signing of a gas contract scheduled for 31 December 2008. Oleksiy Miller, head of "Gazprom", stated that trader "RosUkrEnergo" broke down talks between "Gazprom" and "Naftogaz Ukrainy": "Yes indeed, in late December 2008, the prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine came to agreement, and our companies were ready to seal the deal for $235 per 1000 cubic meters of natural gas with the condition that all the export operations from Ukraine will be done bilaterally. RosUkrEnergo then suggested to buy gas at $285 price." On 31 December 2008 president Viktor Yushchenko gave Oleg Dubyna, head of "Naftogaz Ukrainy", a direct order to stop talks, not sign the agreement and recall the delegation from Moscow. The decision made by the president of Ukraine brought on the crisis.[210][211]

On 14 January 2009 prime minister Tymoshenko said, "The negotiations on $235 gas price and $1.7–1.8 transit price, that started on October 2 and successfully have been moving forward since, have been broken up because, unfortunately, Ukrainian politicians were trying to keep "RosUkrEnergo" in business as a shadow intermediary... The negotiations between the two prime ministers and later between "Gazprom" and "Naftogaz Ukrainy" were ruined by those Ukrainian political groups, who have gotten and are planning to get corrupt benefits from "RosUkrEnergo"." On 17 January 2009 president of Russia Dmitriy Medvedev said, "I think that our Ukrainian partners and us can trade gas without any intermediaries, especially without intermediaries with questionable reputation. The problem is that some participants of negotiations insisted on keeping the intermediary referring to the instructions from the top."[212]

On 1 January 2009, at 10 am, "Gazprom" completely stopped pumping gas to Ukraine.[213] On 4 January the Russian monopolist offered to sell Ukraine gas for $450 per 1000 cubic meter (minus a fee for gas transit through Ukraine), which was defined as a standard price for Eastern European countries. On 8 January 2009 the prime minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin, said that Ukraine would have to pay $470 for 1000 cubic meters of natural gas.[214]

Between 1 and 18 January, Central and Eastern European countries received significantly less gas. Ukrainian heat-and-power stations were working to utmost capacity. Due to sub-zero temperatures, the entire housing and public utilities sectors were on the verge of collapse. On 14 January the European Commission and the Czech presidency in the European Union demanded the immediate renewal of gas deliveries in full capacity lest the reputations of Russia and Ukraine as reliable EU partners be seriously damaged. On 18 January 2009, after five-day-long talks, prime ministers Putin and Tymoshenko came to agreement on the renewal of gas delivery to Ukraine and other EU countries. The parties agreed upon the following: A return to direct contract deals between "Gazprom" and "Naftogaz Ukrainy"; the removal of non-transparent intermediaries; the introduction of formula-based pricing for Ukraine (which also works for other Eastern European countries); and a switch to a $2.7 transit fee, which is close to the average price in Europe. According to the new gas contract, in 2009 Ukraine paid an average price of $232.98 per 1000 cubic meters,[215] while other European consumers were paying above $500 per 1000 cubic meters.[216]

In 2009, the relations between Tymoshenko and President Yushchenko,[221][222][223][224] the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine[225] and the oppositionalParty of Regions remained hostile.[226] One of the reasons for the conflict was that in 2006, Victor Yushchenko has restarted to supply gas to RosUkrEnergo company. This company then was owned by Dmitry Firtash - 45%, by Yushchenko family - 27%, and the Russian "Gazprom". In 2007, Tymoshenko argued for a direct contract for gas supplies from Russia to Ukraine. In 2008 two Prime Ministers signed a Memorandum on the elimination of gas intermediaries.[227][228][229] She emphasized early in February 2009 that the "election struggle for the next presidential elections has virtually begun."[230][231][232]

"This is a competition during economic crisis; [some people] prefer to collect political benefits from these problems instead of solving them together", Tymoshenko said in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in February 2009.[233][234] Later, in an interview with the French paper Le Monde, the prime minister said that "the president treats her as a rival striving for president's office."[235] She also added that the previously mentioned political instability fuels economic crisis. Tymoshenko then called for an early presidential election.

Having long being considered a possible candidate for President of Ukraine in the 2010 election,[236][237] Tymoshenko announced that she would indeed compete in the upcoming presidential election in a statement broadcast live on national TV on 7 June 2009.[217][238] Tymoshenko also stated that if she lost the presidential election she would not challenge the results.[239][240] On 12 September 2009, a tour in support of Tymoshenko's candidacy, called "With Ukraine in Heart", began on Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti. Popular Ukrainian singers and bands took part in the tour.[241][242][243]

On 24 October 2009 the delegates of all-Ukrainian union "Batkivshchyna" formally and unanimously endorsed Yulia Tymoshenko as their candidate for the next Presidential election.[244][245] The 200 thousand congress took place on Kyiv's Independence Square. On 31 October 2009 the Central Election Commission registered Tymoshenko as a candidate for presidential election in 2010.[246]

On 1 December 2009, Tymoshenko urged "national democratic forces" to unite around the candidate who garnered the largest number of votes after the first round of the presidential elections. "If we are not able to strengthen our efforts and unite the whole national-patriotic and democratic camp of Ukraine... we will be much weaker than those who want revenge."[258] On 5 December 2009, she declared she would go into opposition if she lost the presidential election. She also complained of flaws in the election legislation, and expressed her certainty that attempts were being made by her opponents to carry out vote rigging.[259]

In the first round of the presidential election on 17 January 2010, Tymoshenko took second place with 25% of the vote, and Yanukovych took first place with 35%. The two proceeded to a runoff.[260]

On 3 February 2010, two days before the run-off, the deputies from Party of Regions, Communist Party of Ukraine, "Our Ukraine – People's Self-Defense" bloc and independent MPs amended the Law on Election of President, which changed the mode of composition and functioning of election commissions. BYuT warned that these amendments would create opportunities for the massive rigging of elections. Yulia Tymoshenko called on president Yushchenko to veto the law. Hanne Severinsen, former rapporteur of PACE Monitoring Committee on Ukraine, also called on the president to veto the law. Severinsen's statement read: ""Unfortunately, the Party of Regions, as in 2004, is trying to create conditions for vote fraud."[261]

Despite these requests, president Yushchenko signed the amended Law. This action generated vast international criticism from the Council of Europe and from members of the US congress' Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.[262][263] The Committee of Voters of Ukraine stated that the amendments to the Law on Election of President "contained the biggest threats for democratic mode of the run-off."[264]

Tymoshenko did not receive endorsement from other candidates who had not survived the first round of voting.[265] In the run-off held on 7 February 2010,[218][219] Yanukovych was elected President of Ukraine. According to the Central Election Commission, he received 48.95% of the votes; Tymoshenko received 45.47% of the votes.[220] Yulia Tymoshenko won 17 of 27 constituencies in the western, central and north regions of Ukraine and in Kyiv.[266]

Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc members immediately claimed that there was systematic and large-scale vote rigging in the run-off election.[267][268][269] However, Tymoshenko herself did not issue a statement about the election[270][271] until a live televised broadcast on 13 February 2010, in which she said that she would challenge the election result in court. Tymoshenko alleged widespread fraud[272] (according to Tymoshenko, a million votes were invalid) and said Yanukovych was not legitimately elected. "Whatever happens in future, he will never become the legitimately elected President of Ukraine." Tymoshenko did not call people into the streets to protest, and stated that she "won't tolerate civil confrontation."[273][274][275]

On 10 February 2010, Yanukovych called on Tymoshenko to abandon her protests and resign as prime minister.[271] Yanukovych stated he wanted to form a new coalition, and may try to call snap parliamentary elections.[275] On 12 February, Yanukovych stated he would not rule out talks with Tymoshenko if she would publicly apologize to him for accusations she made during her election campaign.[276]Tymoshenko's government did not want to resign voluntarily.[277]

On 17 February 2010 the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine suspended the results of the election on Tymoshenko's appeal.[278] The court suspended the Central Election Commission of Ukraine ruling that announced that Viktor Yanukovych won the election.[279][280] Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal on 20 February 2010, after the Higher Administrative Court in Kiev rejected her petition to scrutinize documents from election districts in Crimea and to question election and law-enforcement officials.[281] According to Tymoshenko, "It became clear that the court is not out to establish the truth, and, unfortunately, the court is as biased as the Central Election Commission, which includes a political majority from Yanukovych."[282] Tymoshenko also stated, "At the very least there was rigging of votes using the main methods of falsification, and I think that for history this lawsuit with all the documentation will remain in the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine, and sooner or later, an honest prosecutor's office and an honest court will assess that Yanukovych wasn't elected President of Ukraine, and that the will of the people had been rigged."[282][283]

On 22 February 2010 Tymoshenko announced in a televised speech that she believed the presidential election to have been rigged and did not recognize its results. "As well as millions of Ukrainians, I state: Yanukovych is not our president", she said. She called on the democratic parliamentary factions to not seek "political employment" at the Party of Regions (meaning to avoid negotiations with the Party of Regions regarding the new coalition) and to "quit arguing and create a united team that would not let an anti-Ukrainian dictatorship usurp the power".

During a nationally televised address on 22 February, Tymoshenko said of President-elect of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and "Yanukovych's team" (she referred to them in the speech as "The oligarchy"): "They need cheap labour, poor and disenfranchised people who can be forced to work at their factories for peanuts, they also need Ukraine's riches, which they have been stealing for the last 18 years." During the speech she also accused outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko of "opening the door to massive and flagrant election rigging" days before 7 February runoff of the January 2010 presidential election by amending the election law.[284][285] During a Cabinet of Ministers meeting on 24 February, Tymoshenko stated, "The moment of truth has arrived: The decision whether or not to side with Yanukovych will show who values the preservation of Ukraine's independence and self-identity and who does not."[285] Tymoshenko and her party, Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko, boycotted the inauguration ceremony of President Yanukovych on 25 February 2010.[286]

On 12 May 2010, Ukraine's prosecutor's office illegally re-opened a 2004 criminal case, which had been closed by the Supreme Court of Ukraine in January 2005 against Tymoshenko regarding accusations that she had tried to bribe Supreme Court judges. As she left the prosecutor's office on 12 May, Tymoshenko told journalists she had been summoned to see investigators again on 17 May, and she linked the move to Russian PresidentMedvedev's visit to Ukraine on 17–18 May 2010.[300][301] Tymoshenko also claimed that she was told by "all the offices of the Prosecutor General's Office" that President Yanukovych had personally instructed the Prosecutor General's Office to find any grounds to prosecute her.[302] In a press conference on 12 May, President Yanukovych's representative in the Verkhovna Rada, Yury Miroshnychenko, dismissed Tymoshenko's statement about Yanukovych's personal interest in prosecuting her. "Yanukovych is against political repression for criticism of the regime," Miroshnychenko stated.[303]

On 15 December 2010, the General Prosecutor's Office instituted a criminal case against Tymoshenko, alleging that she misused funds received by Ukraine within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol. She was officially charged on 20 December 2010.[304][305][306][307] Tymoshenko denied the money had been spent on pensions, insisting it was still at the disposal of the environment ministry. She called the investigation against her a witch-hunt.[305] According to government officials, the criminal case against Tymoshenko was a legitimate attempt to uncover corruption by the previous administration.[305] In the case of "Kyoto money" American experts "Covington & Burling" and "BDO USA" stated the following: "the Documents that we were able to see, clearly point out that the Kyoto Target balance account in the amount of approximately 3.3 billion on the date of receipt remained unchanged throughout the period that is considered, and that, moreover, Kyoto funds have not been touched at all in 2009. Since the balance of this account remained unchanged on the date of receipt, any accusations that Prime Minister Tymoshenko "used" these funds contrary to their intended purpose, are obviously false".[308] On 7 August 2014 the Chairman of the State Treasury service Tatiana Slyuz confirmed that the Tymoshenko government has never spent "Kyoto money", the funds were on special accounts and in 2010 were transferred to the Yanukovych government.[309] Tymoshenko was not arrested, but ordered not to leave Kiev while the inquiry was under way.[310][311] In the same case, the environment minister in the second Tymoshenko Government, Georgiy Filipchuk, was detained.[312] Filipchuk was the third minister from this government to face criminal charges since its fall in March 2010 (prosecutors charged former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko with abuse of office in early December 2010, and former economy minister Bohdan Danylyshyn was detained in the Czech Republic in October 2010 on similar charges).[312] Lawmakers of BYuT blocked the rostrum and presidium of the Verkhovna Rada the next day in protest against this.[313] That same day, the European People's Party issued a statement in which it "condemns the growth of aggressive, politically motivated pressure by the Ukrainian authorities on the opposition and its leader Yulia Tymoshenko."[314] Tymoshenko dismissed the probe as "terror against the opposition by President Yanukovych."[315] Earlier that month, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka had stated that there were no political reasons for the interrogations of the opposition leaders Tymoshenko, Lutsenko and Oleksandr Turchynov.[316]

New corruption charges against Tymoshenko were filed on 27 January 2011.[317][318] She was accused of using 1,000 medical vehicles for campaigning in the presidential elections of 2010.[317][318] According to Tymoshenko, the charges were false and part of "Yanukovych's campaign to silence the opposition."[317][318] Subsequently, in 2010, the results of the audit of the accounts chamber revealed that the acquisition of these vehicles was provided for from 2008 in the article 87 of the Budget code, the State budget-2009 and article 13 of the Law of Ukraine "On state target programs". In June 2011, the case on the "Kyoto money" and of medical assistance vehicles to the village were suspended — after auditing company "BDO USA", which has branches in over one hundred countries around the world, and a large law firm "Covington & Burling" investigated these cases and stated that they "are not worth the paper on which they are written."[319][320]

On 26 April 2011, Tymoshenko sued businessman Dmytro Firtash and Swiss-based RosUkrEnergo in a US District Court in Manhattan, accusing them of "defrauding Ukraine's citizenry by manipulating an arbitration court ruling" and "undermining the rule of law in Ukraine" in connection with a 2010 international arbitration court ruling in Stockholm that ordered Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz to pay RosUkrEnergo 11 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas to compensate for fuel it had "expropriated" plus 1.1 billion bcm as a penalty.[325][326]

Throughout Yanukovych's presidency, Tymoshenko stayed very critical of his and the Azarov Government's performances and intentions which, among others, she accused of selling out to Russia and of being a "funeral of democracy."[327][328][329][330] Tymoshenko has accused "many of Ukraine's neighbours" of turning a blind eye to "Yanukovych's strangulation of Ukraine's democracy, some openly celebrate the supposed 'stability' that his regime has imposed."[331] She believes "Ukraine can return to a democratic path of development only with an active civil society and support from the international community."[332]

2011 trial and imprisonment and other criminal cases against Tymoshenko[edit]

In May 2010 the Ukrainian General Prosecutor's office started a number of criminal cases against Yulia Tymoshenko which prevented her from normal political activity and from international travel to her allies in the West. The European Parliament passed a resolution condemning Yanukovych government for persecution of Tymoshenko as well as for prosecution in the "Gas case" and other cases against her and her ministers.[335] On 24 June 2011 a trial started in the "gas case", concerning a contract signed in 2009 with Russian gas company Gazprom to supply natural gas to Ukraine. Tymoshenko was charged with abuse of power and embezzlement, as the court found the deal anti-economic for the country and abusive.[336]

Early in July 2011, the Ukrainian security service (SBU) opened a new criminal investigation into alleged non-delivery of goods by United Energy Systems of Ukraine (in 1996) to Russia for $405.5 million, the SBU maintains that Russia may claim this sum to the State budget of Ukraine (this criminal case was closed in Russia in December 2005 due to lapse of time).[95]

On 11 October 2011 the court found Tymoshenko guilty of abuse of power and sentenced her to seven years in prison, banned her from seeking elected office for her period of imprisonment, and ordered her to pay the state $188 million.[348][349][350] She was convicted for exceeding her powers as Prime Minister by ordering Naftogaz to sign the gas deal with Russia in 2009.[350][350] Tymoshenko did appeal the sentence, which she compared to Stalin's Great Terror,[348][350] on 24 October 2011.[351]

On 23 December 2011, Tymoshenko lost her appeal against her sentence for abuse of power.[361][362] She and her lawyers had boycotted the appeal proceedings,[361] claiming that the "Judicial system and justice are totally non-existent in Ukraine today."[363] Tymoshenko has lodged a complaint against the verdict at the European Court of Human Rights, which was given priority treatment by the court.[364]

In early April 2012, the General Prosecutor's Office began examining the possible involvement of Tymoshenko and former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko in the murder of Donetsk businessman Olexandr Momot in 1996.[369]

On 18 January 2013 Tymoshenko was notified that she was a suspect in the murder of businessman and lawmaker Yevhen Shcherban, his wife and two other people in 1996.[380] In May 2013, the Shcherban murder case was suspended.[381]

From 25 November to 6 December 2013 (during the Euromaidan protests), Tymoshenko was again on a hunger strike in protest of "President Yanukovych's reluctance to sign the DCFTA" on 6 December.[382][383][384][385]

On 24 October 2011 Yulia Tymoshenko filed an appeal to the decision of Pechersk district court of Kyiv regarding the "gas case".[386] On 1 December the Kyiv Court of Appeal started hearing the case. Tymoshenko herself was not present in the courtroom because of her health condition.[387] After the hearing, the judge, Olena Sitaylo, had to call an ambulance and was hospitalized. On 13 December 2011 the Kyiv Court of Appeal resumed the hearing. All subsequent court sessions took place without Tymoshenko's presence. Immediately prior to the hearing of the appeal, the board of judges was altered: Sitaylo, the chief justice, was appointed the day before the first hearing; other justices were appointed several days prior to the court session.[388] Thus, the judges did not have time to study the 84-page case log. The manner of the process proved that the decision to alter the board of judges was made beforehand. At the very end, Tymoshenko's defense boycotted the court session.[389]

On 23 December 2011 the Kyiv Court of Appeal issued a ruling which fully supported the verdict of the Pechersk court. The judges didn't find any violations during the pre-trial investigation or trial on the "gas case", overruling the claims of Tymoshenko's defense.[390]

On 26 January 2012 Yulia Tymoshenko's defense submitted a cassation appeal to the High Specialized Court for Civil and Criminal Cases regarding the "gas case" verdict.[391] On 16 August 2012, after a 7-month delay that impeded filing the case to the European Court of Human Rights, the panel of judges of the aforementioned court began hearing the case. The panel finished hearing the case on 21 August and went to the jury room to make decision. The ruling of the Court, issued on 29 August 2012, stated that the appeal of ex prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's defense on the "gas case" should not be satisfied.[392]

Media, diplomats, members of parliament and members of an EU special monitoring mission, Pat Cox and Aleksander Kwasniewski, attended the court sessions. The ruling was announced on the day following public hearing of "Tymoshenko vs Ukraine" (regarding unlawful arrest of ex-prime minister and holding her in custody) case at the European Court of Human Rights.[393]

The European Union, PACE, and governments of the United States, Great Britain and Canada expressed frustration with the cassation ruling.[394] "We are deeply disappointed with the consequences of the current situation, when two important opposition leaders cannot stand in the upcoming parliamentary elections, [and] when the court disrespects international standards for fair and transparent processes", a representative of the European Commission, Michael Mann, said in Brussels on 29 August 2012.[395]

In June 2012, the European Parliament established a special monitoring mission to Ukraine, conducted by former European Parliament President Pat Cox and former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. Both politicians have observed trials, repeatedly visited Tymoshenko in custody and conducted meetings with Ukraine's authorities regarding her release.[398]

On 30 April 2013 the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment[399] asserting that "Ms. Tymoshenko's pre-trial detention had been arbitrary; that the lawfulness of her detention had not been properly reviewed; and, that she had no possibility to seek compensation for her unlawful deprivation of liberty."

The United States Senate passed two resolutions calling for the release from prison of former prime minister Tymoshenko. The most recent, presented in the Senate in June 2013, called for Tymoshenko's release in light of the recent European Court of Human Rights ruling, and was adopted on 18 November 2013.[401][402][403] An earlier resolution, passed in 2012, condemned the politically motivated prosecution and imprisonment of former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko.[404]

Tymoshenko addressing Euromaidan with a speech, Kiev, 22 February 2014

Following the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, on 21 February 2014, Parliament voted for her release in a 310–54 veto-proof vote.[33] To do so, the members of parliament decriminalized the Article on which Tymoshenko was charged and brought it into compliance with Article 19 of the UN Convention against corruption. That could enable immediate release of Tymoshenko through the corresponding court ruling. However, Viktor Yanukovych fled the country after massive violent clashes in Kiev that killed more than 80 people[31][33][407] without signing the bill into law. On 22 February 2014 the Verkhovna Rada with 322 votes adopted a decree based on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights and corresponding decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.[408]

On the same day, Tymoshenko was released from Central Clinical Hospital No. 5 in Kharkiv, where she had been receiving treatment under police guard since May 2012, after being diagnosed with a spinal disc herniation.[409][373][374] Her release was praised by western leaders.[410]

On 28 February 2014 the parliament rehabilitated Yulia Tymoshenko and restored her rights. That enabled her to run for office; however, she has ruled out becoming prime minister again.[411]

On 25 April 2014 the General Prosecutor of Ukraine launched a pre-trial investigation against a number of officials from its own office and the Pechersky district court and Kiev's court of appeals (the judges who had sentenced Tymoshenko) because of allegedly "deliberate, systematic and flagrant violation of accused Yulia Tymoshenko's rights to defense, which are granted by Ukraine's current laws".[413]

On 22 January 2015 the European Court of Human Rights announced the termination of consideration of the case of Yulia Tymoshenko v. Ukraine in connection to an implied friendly settlement between the parties, after Tymoshenko's agreement with the government's declaration admitting that the criminal prosecution against her had been politically motivated. The Ukrainian government, in its exchange with the Court, had acknowledged a violation of Tymoshenko's rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights under articles 3 (prohibition of torture), 6 (right to a fair trial), 7 (no punishment without law), 8 (right to respect for private and family life), partly in conjunction with article 13 (right to an effective remedy), article 18 (political motivation), article 10 (freedom of expression) and article 4 of Protocol No. 7 to the Convention (right not to be tried or punished twice). Taking note of the Ukrainian government's declaration and following measures, as well as of Tymoshenko's agreement with it, the Court struck out the application from its list of cases, as asked by the government, following article 39 of the Convention (friendly settlements).[416]

On 19 October 2015 the Kominternivskyi district court of Kharkiv has sentenced two former employees of the Kachanivska penal colony No. 54 to three years in prison for inflicting injuries on Yulia Tymoshenko.[417]

Immediately after her release from prison on 22 February 2014, Yulia Tymoshenko travelled to Kyiv, where she attended a makeshift memorial to the first slain protesters on Hrushevskogo Street and gave a speech on Maidan stage.[418] In the following days she had a number of meetings and phone conversations with USA, EU, and OSCE officials. Tymoshenko addressed the European Union, leaders of western democracies and of countries which guaranteed Ukraine's territorial unity according to the Budapest Memorandum; she called for action to stop what she called the "Russian aggression".[419]

Upon her return to Kyiv, Tymoshenko gathered military and defense experts and suggested launching a special headquarters that would elaborate responses to threats coming from Russia.

2014 presidential election percentage of vote for Tymoshenko

On 27 March 2014, at a press conference in Kiev, Tymoshenko stated that she would run in the 2014 presidential election.[422] Two days later the congress of Batkivshchyna party officially nominated her and on 31 March the Central Election Commission officially registered her as a candidate. The election took place on 25 May. Tymoshenko came a distant second behind Petro Poroshenko. She received 12.39% of the vote.[18][423][424]

In a recording (purportedly a leaked phone conversation with Nestor Shufrych, former deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine) Tymoshenko appeared to say in reference to the reunification of Crimea with Russia: "This is really beyond all boundaries. It's about time we grab our guns and go kill those damn Russians together with their leader; and nuke 8 million Russians who are now exiles in Ukraine."[425][426] In a statement, while admitting she had spoken to Shufrych on the telephone, Tymoshenko denied having advocated the use of nuclear bombs against ethnic Russians in Ukraine, and avowed that the recording had been deliberately edited to discredit her.[427] Neither Tymoshenko nor anybody else in Ukraine can use nuclear weapons against anybody, as Ukraine no longer has any nuclear weapons, having given up the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world[428] in exchange for (subsequently violated) international guarantees of her security and territorial integrity.

On 30 August 2014 Tymoshenko announced the start of preparations for the NATO accession referendum.[429]

On 5 March 2015 Parliament supported a bill to support the volunteer movement in Ukraine.[433]

On 21 April 2015 Yulia Tymoshenko initiated a working group to check the validity of utility tariffs.[434]

On 6 April 2016 Tymoshenko thanked Angela Merkel for her help in establishing peace in eastern Ukraine.[435]

15 May 2016: Faction "Fatherland" preparing a statement in the name of the new Prosecutor General in connection with offenses in the activities of the National Commission, which performs state regulation in the energy and utilities relative to the unjustified increase of gas prices for the population.[436]

16 May 2016: Yulia Tymoshenko, Chairman of the "Batkivschyna" party, held a meeting with the coordinator of the US State Department on the issue of sanctions, Ambassador Dan Fried. The sides discussed the situation in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, focusing on the politics of U.S. sanctions against Russia. Dan Fried assured Tymoshenko of the support of the United States of America for the Ukraine, and its territorial integrity and independence.[437]

23 May 2016 at the initiative of Yulia Tymoshenko All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" launched a website "Fair rates", the proceedings of which explain the need to establish adequate tariffs for gas for the population.[438][439]

Tymoshenko wants her country to become a member of the EU, while also expressing concern about antagonizing Russia.[440][441] "I try to defend our interests so that we can find a balance in our relations both with the EU and Russia".[440]

Tymoshenko supports Ukraine joining NATO,[442] stating it would be "uncomfortable" for Ukraine to remain "in a void, outside all existing security systems".[440] But, according to Tymoshenko, the question of Ukraine joining any system of collective security would "be resolved only by referendum."[443] Tymoshenko favours close relations with the EU, including the creation of a free trade area between Ukraine and the EU[444] and later a full membership.[445] According to Tymoshenko, "The European project has not been completed as yet. It has not been completed because there is no full-fledged participation of Ukraine."[446] She opposes foreign intervention in internal Ukrainian affairs: "Ukraine's realization of its sovereign rights, forming a modern political nation, cannot be considered as a policy aimed against anyone."[447] Tymoshenko does not want to expand the lease contract of the Russian Black Sea fleet in Ukraine because, "The Constitution of Ukraine quite clearly stipulates that foreign military bases cannot be deployed in Ukraine, and this constitutional clause is the fundamental basis of the state's security."[448] She also believes in "building a genuine civil society" as the best way to help democracy.[331][332]

Tymoshenko regards Ukraine as a "unitary and indivisible state". Tymoshenko considers separatist attitudes in Ukraine unacceptable: "Love one another, from Donetsk, Crimea, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv and all the other corners of our native land."[449] According to Tymoshenko, citizens in Russian-speaking Dnipropetrovsk already understood Ukrainian in Soviet times and that problems surrounding the Russian language in Ukraine were "exaggerated and don't exist".[238][450]

Tymoshenko wrote an article called "Containing Russia" that was published in the May–June 2007 edition of the journal Foreign Affairs.[456][457] In the article she criticized Russian expansionism. Consequently, the article irked Russia and more than a week after the article was published, Russia responded by calling it an "anti-Russian manifesto" and "an attempt to once again draw dividing lines in Europe."[458][nb 11]

Tymoshenko wants to raise the general level of social standards by equalizing salaries in the industrial and social spheres,[468] and pledged in November 2009 to revamp Ukraine's hospitals and health system within two years.[469] She also pledged tax breaks for farmers.[470] Other economic policies included compensation for depositors who lost Soviet-era savings, price controls on food and medicines to bring inflation down, and calls for a review of murky privatisations and high social spending.[471] Tymoshenko wants to cut the number of taxes by a third to simplify the system, and wants to cut the Value Added Tax (VAT) and offer tax breaks to importers of new technologies to poor regions to boost investment there.[472] In December 2009 the second Tymoshenko Government proposed creating independent anti-corruption bureaus in Ukraine.[473]

Tymoshenko believes Ukraine can gain energy security and independence, and she wants to speed up exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas from the Black Sea shelf.[472] Considering Nuclear power provides almost 50% of the electricity supply in Ukraine, Tymoshenko's government agreed to cooperate with the company Westin to establish factory production of nuclear fuel in Ukraine, independent of Russia. She also suggested a 10-year tax break for enterprises that would develop alternative energy sources in Ukraine.

In November 2009, Tymoshenko called Ukraine "an absolutely ungovernable country" due to the changes to the Constitution of Ukraine as a part of a political compromise between the acting authorities (former-President Kuchma) and opposition during the Orange Revolution.[481] (Tymoshenko has characterised those reforms as "incomplete",[482] and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc voted against them in December 2004).[483] In January 2010 Tymoshenko called for urgent amendments to the Constitution via the majority of the Verkhovna Rada after a survey or plebiscite is conducted.[484] In April 2011, she still believed the constitution "didn't work".[480]

May 21, 2016 Yulia Tymoshenko expressed hope that the EU will provide Ukraine a visa-free regime. Tymoshenko stressed that the Ukrainian state is there to protect the world all over Europe, continuing to fight the Russian aggression.[485]

Yulia Tymoshenko's mother, Lyudmila Mykolayivna Telehina (born Nelepova), was born on 11 August 1937 in Dnipropetrovsk.[43] Her father, Volodymyr Abramovych Hrihyan, was born on 3 December 1937, also in Dnipropetrovsk. His Soviet passport gave his nationality as Latvian.[43] His mother was Maria Yosypivna Hrihyan, born in 1909.[43]

Ukrainian media have published speculation regarding the genealogy of Tymoshenko. Some of the hypotheses have no scientific evidence (for example, the hypothesis of the Armenian origin of the surname "Grigyan"); [486] some of the hypotheses (concerning her Jewish roots) have been labelled as provocative,[487][488][489][490] or could be designed to create negative PR,[491][492] although her Minister of Communications had in 2005 described her origins as half-Jewish, half-Armenian.[493]

About her ethnicity, Yulia Tymoshenko herself has said: "On my father's side – everyone is Latvian for ten generations, and on my mother's side – everyone is Ukrainian for ten generations."[494] Tymoshenko's parents were both born in Ukraine and are, therefore, Ukrainian as defined by the Law on Citizenship of Ukraine and by the Ukrainian Constitution.[495][496][497]

Tymoshenko has said that, like most Soviet citizens, she spoke only Russian in her childhood (although she studied the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian literature at school for 10 years, as did all schoolchildren in Soviet Ukraine).[238][450] In January 2010 Tymoshenko stated that in Dnipropetrovsk she did not have to speak Ukrainian until she was 36 (i.e. before 1996).[498] According to Tymoshenko her braids are a family tradition.[450]

Tymoshenko and her husband rent a house in Kiev and own an apartment in Dnipropetrovsk. Houses in Dnipropetrovsk belong to their relatives.[502][503][504] Tymoshenko has declared she never used and will never use or move into a state-owned summer house,[503][504] in contrast with all former-Presidents and many high-ranking officials of Ukraine, who live in state-owned dachas in Koncha-Zaspa.[505] According to Ukrainian media Tymoshenko lives in an estate in Koncha-Zaspa, "rented from a friend".[506] In March 2014 Tymoshenko opened the door of her house to public activists and guided them around.[507]

Tymoshenko's critics have suggested that, as an oligarch, she gained her fortune improperly. Some have speculated that her familiarity with the illegal conduct of business common in Ukraine uniquely qualifies her to combat corruption—if she is willing to do so. Her former business partner, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, was convicted in the United States on charges of money laundering, corruption and fraud, the magnitude of which was in the billions of dollars.[510] However, Judge Martin Jenkins of the US District Court for the Northern District of California on 7 May 2004 dismissed the allegations of Tymoshenko's involvement in Lazarenko's murky business.[511]

Her transition from oligarch to reformer was believed by many voters to be both genuine and effective.[79][130][512] Discrepancies between her declared income and her seemingly luxurious lifestyle (mostly because of her designer outfits) have been pointed out in the Ukrainian tabloids.[506][513][514]

When Tymoshenko joined the Yushchenko government she did not speak Ukrainian.[450] According to fellow Ukrainian politician Borys Tarasyuk, in 2002 Tymoshenko "only spoke Russian even when I spoke to her in Ukrainian", but since then she has made the transition to speaking only Ukrainian.[450][515][516]

During her second stint as prime-minister her ratings in opinion polls fell. In early 2008 in opinion polls for the Ukrainian presidential election, 2009 she stood at 30% but by late April 2009 that had shrunk to 15%[517] According to a poll carried out between 29 January and 5 February 2009 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology just over 43% of the Ukrainian voters believed Tymoshenko should leave her post, whereas just over 45% believed she should stay.[518] According to an opinion poll carried out between 3 and 12 February 2009 by the "Sofia" Center for Social Studies some 59.1% of those polled believed that the activities of (then) Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko were aimed at the defense of her own interests and that of her entourage, some 4.2% said her activities were aimed at the defense of interests of foreign states and some 23.9% believed that Tymoshenko worked for the sake of national interests. 77.7% of the respondents were unsatisfied with the economic policy of the second Tymoshenko Government. Some 71.8% believed that this government was not able to lead the Ukrainian economy out of the 2008–09 Ukrainian financial crisis or even change the situation in Ukraine to better; 18.1% of respondents did think that the government could do that.[519][520] 1. Despite the neck-to-neck 2010 presidential race, many experts believed that Tymoshenko would win the vote due to her ability to "hike her popularity just before the voting day". JP Morgan Securities Inc. experts said that Yulia Tymoshenko's victory in presidential election would "bring stability in 2010, with budget consolidation, better terms of crediting and higher influx of capital. As a result, the economy will have better prospects of growing in the second half of 2010 and 2011".[521]

Tymoshenko has been ranked three times by Forbes magazine among the most powerful women in the world. During her first term, in 2005 she was ranked third (behind Condoleezza Rice and Wu Yi),[38] in 2008 she was number 17[522] and in 2009 at number 47.[523] According to the Ukrainian magazine Focus Lady Yu was placed first in annual ranking of the most influential women in Ukraine in 2006–2010 (five years).[524][525] During the Orange Revolution some Western media publications dubbed her the "Joan of Arc of the Revolution".[115] In December 2011 Tymoshenko's party BYuT-Batkivschyna nominated her for the Nobel Peace Prize.[526]

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has stated (in November 2009) he found it comfortable to work with his (then) Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko and also praised her for strengthening Ukrainian sovereignty and building stable ties with Moscow[161] and called the second Tymoshenko Government "efficient and a force for stability".[162] It has been suggested by Reuters that the Russian government, after seeing her opposition to Viktor Yushchenko, supported her since late 2008, although Putin denied it.[471]

Former ally and President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko stated in November 2009 "I am sure that every week spent by Yulia Tymoshenko in the post of Prime Minister leads the country to a catastrophe. Because of Yulia Tymoshenko, it is a crisis, a crisis in everything".[527] Yushchenko has repeatedly accused his former ally turned rival Tymoshenko of acting in the interests of Russia, although she firmly denied the allegations.[10] On 31 May 2010 Yushchenko stated that Tymoshenko was his "worst mistake", "The most serious mistake was to give the power to her twice".[528] Expert in Ukrainian politics Dr. Taras Kuzio believes that he has always prioritized personal revenge against Tymoshenko over Ukraine's national interests.[529] In her turn, Tymoshenko has blamed President Viktor Yushchenko for obstructing the government-proposed anti-crisis measures and efforts to form a broad coalition to battle the crisis. "The president is using flashy words today to deprive the nation, first of all its government, of the opportunity to counter the crisis, and to leave the nation without a government it logically needs" she said. "Viktor Yushchenko has no right to any criticism. He is the incumbent president. He only has the right to work and to serve Ukraine. He will have the right to criticize when he joins the opposition. Now he must work and answer for his moves".[530]

Yushchenko is being dishonest—which shouldn't surprise us—but he is also being self-serving when he says that Yanukovych and Tymoshenko "are cut from the same cloth." For one thing, even Tymoshenko's most ardent detractors realize that, if she were president, Ukraine would not be sliding toward a 20-year dictatorship. For another, if anyone is cut from the same cloth as Yanukovych, it's Viktor Yushchenko, who's shown a remarkable willingness to seek rapprochement with him and the Regionnaires since 2005. Yushchenko should be ashamed. Worse, Yushchenko should be on meds. A perfectly reasonable argument for EU engagement with Ukraine became, in the manner of all of Yushchenko's speeches in the last years of his presidency, a rant against Tymoshenko and thereby self-destructed. I had once suggested that Yushchenko probably couldn't forgive himself for being too weak to stand up to the powerful Tymoshenko. His feelings of impotence are obviously still going strong.

Former Ukrainian Minister of Finance of Ukraine Viktor Pynzenyk has called Tymoshenko's decisions "normally guided by 'adventurous populism'", which she saw as a tool to "consolidate power in her own hands" and believed Tymoshenko should have "taken advantage of the opportunity presented by the 2008–2009 Ukrainian financial crisis to reform".[531]

Party of Regions Deputy Head Borys Kolesnykov stated on 11 February 2010 "Tymoshenko was the most effective politician during the entire period of Ukraine's recent history".[532] Former European High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana has called Tymoshenko "a patriot regardless of the position in which you have found yourself".[533] President Viktor Yanukovych stated about Tymoshenko on 13 May 2010 "She likes to create a sensation. We have grown used to this extravagant woman".[534]

Vitaly Chepinoha has closely collaborated with Tymoshenko during various elections for more than a decade.[256]

In some newspapers and television programs, Tymoshenko has been referred to as Lady Yu (Ледi Ю, Леди Ю).[535]

Opinion polls since early 2011 show that the percentage of votes that Tymoshenko would gain in a future presidential election stands about 15%.[536] Yet recent opinion polls show increase of Tymoshenko's rating. Thus, according to the survey conducted by "Rating" sociology think tank in September 2013, 21% of respondents would vote for Tymoshenko according to Russian held Interefax.[537]

Play "Who Wants to Kill Yulia Tymoshenko?" was first performed at the opening night of Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play is about political fight of Yulia Tymoshenko and her imprisonment. (August 2013)[551]

On 4 October 2014 Eugenia Tymoshenko in Milan, Italy presented the book "Ukraine, Gas and Handcuffs: The Trial of Yulia Tymoshenko" (Italian: «Ucraina, gas e manette: il processo a Yulia Tymoshenko»). Author of books on political persecution of Yulia Tymoshenko at the time of the Yanukovych regime is the Italian analyst Mateo Cazzulani. The title "Ukraine, Gas and Handcuffs: The Trial of Yulia Tymoshenko" demonstrates a clear understanding that energy is the key source of Ukraine’s dependence. The author draws a clear parallel between Ukraine and the fate of Yulia Tymoshenko, who was also denied her freedom because of her fight against corruption, the oligarchy and the dependence of the Ukrainian energy sector on Russian energy.[552][553][554]

^Key economic achievements of Tymoshenko's government Increased salaries, pensions, scholarships; Fulfilled one of the paragraphs of social program from Yushchenko's election agenda on support for new families: in 2005 a social aid for a newborn child was increased 12 times; "Contraband stop" campaign was launched. The campaign was accompanied by eradication of shadow schemes in business; Call for nationalization and re-privatization of more than 3000 enterprises. Eventually the government nationalized and then re-privatized country's biggest metallurgical plant "Kryvorizhstal". In October 2005 it was sold for $4 billion to a new owner, which was an impressive amount compared to $8.5 billion received by the government from privatization between 1991 and 2004; On 16 June 2005 president Viktor Yushchenko, speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Lytvyn and Yulia Tymoshenko signed a memorandum on guarantees of ownership rights and ensuring lawfulness for their implementation. According to Yushchenko, "Ukrainian government brought murky privatization practice to the end"; Reaction to crises on internal market; In April–May 2005 Ukraine faced so called "meat, sugar and petrol crises" when prices for the abovementioned products went up by 30–50% over a couple of weeks. These crises allegedly resulted from a cartel conspiracy and it took Tymoshenko's government about 1,5 month to get the prices down to the initial level with the help of "goods intervention" mechanism; The meat crisis was caused by increased demand for meat as a result of increased salaries. Tymoshenko's government lifted duties on imported meat, which dropped the speculative prices Tymoshenko's political opponents (Yushchenko and Yanukovych) kept criticizing her for importing "low quality meat". At that time Tymoshenko's government made a decision to increase production of poultry, which eventually made Ukraine a poultry exporter. The sugar and petrol crises were caused by a "cartel conspiracy" which increased prices for the abovementioned goods by 30–50%. Tymoshenko's government organized import of cane sugar and dropped duties on oil products import. In a couple of months the prices stabilized. In 2006 Anti Monopoly Committee, who investigated the "sugar crisis" issued a conclusion which said that it was a cartel monopoly with a participation of Petro Poroshenko, then-head of the National Council of Security and Defense. In May 2005, at the height of the petrol crisis, Viktor Yushchenko publicly sharply criticized Tymoshenko for "pressure on oil traders".

^On 7 December 2005 Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko held a convention in Kiev. At this convention Yulia Tymoshenko presented a new ideology of the Bloc ("solidarism") and announced the first top 10 of the party list for the upcoming parliamentary election of 2006. Unlike the other parties that ran for election, BYuT did not disclose the rest of the names on the list. On 26 March 2006 BYuT won 22.27% of votes (5,648,345 votes) and came first in 14 regions of Ukraine.

^The key purpose of her visit was to explain to the US administration "the biggest problem of Ukrainian politics": Yanukovych's actions toward unconstitutional enlargement of the "ruling coalition" that could potentially remove Viktor Yushchenko from power. The only possible solution envisaged by Tymoshenko was dismissal of the Verkhovna Rada (according to the Constitution) and an early parliamentary election. In addition to meeting with top officials of the Bush administration, Tymoshenko gave speeches at the Kennedy Center for Strategic and International Studies and the National Press Club. She also received an award for her contribution to the development of democracy in Ukraine from the influential NGO Conservative Political Action Conference.

^On 31 March 2007 Tymoshenko and her political party initiated and conducted the "100 thousand people Maidan". Other Orange Revolution leaders such as Viacheslav Kyrylenko and Yuriy Lutsenko attended the meeting. The participants urged president Yushchenko (who was not there) to dismiss the Verkhovna Rada and call early election.[159] During this trip she received an award for contribution into democracy development from Conservative Political Action Conference.[160]

^Tymoshenko herself outlines the biggest achievements of her government[204] introducing anti crisis program for the key industries (mining and metallurgical sector, agrarian sector, chemical production, construction and development), strengthening Ukraine's energy independence through direct gas deals with Russian Federation, restoring Ukraine's fame as the world's bread basket due to unprecedentedly rich crops of grain (53.3 million tons in 2008, and 46 million tons in 2009), preventing drop in the agricultural production, revitalization of high-tech industries such as space engineering and aircraft construction, resuming of series construction of Antonov aircraft, getting final UEFA's confirmation for conduct Euro-2012 tournament in Ukraine, introducing independent high school graduate testing, obtaining WTO membership, and commencing negotiations on EU association.

^Tymoshenko introduced an apparatus of the Cabinet of Ministers' Commissioner for anti corruption issues and made sure that a number of anti corruption laws and government regulations (acts) were adopted. Tymoshenko herself was personally in charge of fight with "gas" and "land" mafia, which, in the first case, ended up with removal of corruption intermediary from gas trade between Russia and Ukraine; in the second case it ended up with introduction of free of charge registration and issuing land ownership documents for citizens. According to Tymoshenko, the efficient anti corruption campaign [167] and significant financial discipline armed the government with additional resources for dealing with burning social problems during the crisis period. Due to that the following goals were achieved: pensions, stipends and salaries to the state-run organizations' employees were paid on time; gas and electricity prices for households were not raised; people received their deposits from the bankrupt banks; additional payments for teachers, healthcare workers and librarians were provided; financial aid to families with a newborn child was increased in several times; those who qualify, received more than 5500 state subsidized apartments; about 6 million of clients of former Soviet Oshchadbank received compensations for their lost savings; people could register their land plots free of charge.

^These criminal cases were opened against officials from the second Tymoshenko Government (prosecutors have not accused them of corruption, or assignment of funds, but rather have accused them of abuse of power):

^European politicians deemed the court's decision to be politically motivated and a violation of democratic standards. The head of EU diplomacy, Catherine Ashton, said in a statement that the verdict would affect bilateral EU-Ukraine relations, including the Association Agreement. Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule indicated that he was counting on Tymoshenko's rapid release through changes to Ukraine's Criminal Code. The head of the European People's Party, Wilfried Martens, has called for talks with Ukraine on the Association Agreement to be suspended. These responses correspond to the Union's current position; for the Association Agreement to be signed, Tymoshenko must be released and permitted to participate in the next elections.

^It was subsequently revealed that significant portions of the article were paraphrased from an article written by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Tymoshenko's staff denied allegations of plagiarism on the grounds that the Foreign Affairs format does not usually include attributions.[459] Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote an article called "Containing Russia: Back To The Future?"[460] for the same journal which was apparently meant to be a response to Tymoshenko. He withdrew the article before publication, accusing the editors of changing his text and said his article was subjected to "censorship".[461]

^Tymshenko's daughter Yevhenia Tymoshenko received a Medal for her contribution to the defense of democracy and human rights of the same organization in October 2012.[540]

^"Lytvyn Predicts Rada's Work Until 2012". Ukrainian News Agency. 13 December 2008. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. 'I can reassure everyone that snap elections will not be held... If the Rada is working adequately and the public sees its efficiency, the Parliament will work next four-year', he said.